"Modern Moral Philosophy" was an article written by G.E.M. Anscombe in 1958 that caused numerous debates and influenced contemporary ethics. Anscombe was a British analytic philosopher, and her ideas revolve around a philosophy of intellectual autonomy and the importance of questioning the basic premise of morality.

Incomplete Knowledge

Modern moral philosophy states that, because we do not have complete knowledge of the mind and psychology, we must suspend any moral thinking until we do.

Ideas From the Past

This philosophy states that we should discard any concepts of right or wrong, because they are based on ideas from the past that may not be relevant to today's changing world.

We Have a New Way of Thinking

Modern moral philosophy asserts that well known philosophers of the past have no real relevance as to what the writers of today write. We have new technology, new society and a new way of thinking, so writers from the past have no real influence on today's modern problems.

Consequentialism

Consequentialism is a term that stemmed from and was coined by modern moral philosophy. It states that a culture, nation or group will always justify the means to an end by making the consequence beneficial to the culture, nation or group that created the specific morality.

Conclusion

Modern moral philosophy ultimately begs the question that instead of preserving the idea of what is right or wrong we should first set out to understand why we are driven to think what we believe. Understanding why we have a specific morality is more important than having a morality.

Source:

Religious Ethics, History and the Rise of Modern Moral Philosophy

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Modern Moral Philosophy